Tripod

ABSTRACT

A tripod comprising a cylindrical housing including a cameramounting portion, a movable support disc in said cylindrical housing and urged downwardly toward the bottom opening of the cylindrical housing, at least three legs connected at their upper ends to the marginal portion of said support disc, engaging openings formed axially of the cylindrical housing in the lower end thereof in positions corresponding to the positions in which the bases of said legs are disposed for permitting the legs to extend therethrough when they are pulled out of or withdrawn into the cylindrical housing, a bottom cover rotatably mounted on the bottom opening of the cylindrical housing, engaging openings formed in said bottom cover and adapted to be indexed with said engaging openings in said cylindrical housing, and means for maintaining the legs in a locked position in the cylindrical housing.

United States Patent Primary Examiner-Edward C. Allen Attorney-Stevens,Davis, Miller & Mosher ABSTRACT: A tripod comprising a cylindricalhousing including a camera-mounting portion, a movable support disc insaid cylindrical housing and urged downwardly toward the bottom openingof the cylindrical housing, at least three legs connected at their upperends to the marginal portion of said support disc, engaging openingsformed axially of the cylindrical housing in the lower end thereof inpositions corresponding to the positions in which the bases of said legsare disposed for permitting the legs to extend therethrough when theyare pulled out of or withdrawn into the cylindrical housing, a bottomcover rotatably mounted on the bottom opening of the cylindricalhousing, engaging openings formed in said bottom cover and adapted to beindexed with said engaging openings in said cylindrical housing, andmeans for maintaining the legs in a locked position in the cylindricalhousing.

PATENTEU JAN 4 SHEET 1 OF 4 INVENTOR I KOMA NAKATANI ATTORNEYSPATENTEDJAN 4:912 3332.073

SHEET 2 BF 4 INVENTOR KOMA NAKATANI W/ WM/ ATTORNEYS PATENTEBW 4W2$632073 SHEET 3 OF 4 J 9 I I 48 I2 48 I2 INVENTOR KOMA NAKATANI WMMWMATTORNEYS TRIPOD The present invention relates to tripods in general.More particularly, the invention deals with a small tripod used as intaking pictures which is constructed such that its legs cantelescopically be received in the housing when not in use.

In one type of tripods known in the art which are adapted to receivetheir legs in the housing provided with a cameramounting portion whennot in use, a cover threadably connected to the housing is firstdisconnected when the tripods are used and then the legs each connectedby a pin to said cover are pulled out of the housing. The cover isthreadably connected to the housing again with the legs being spread andmaintained in said spread position while in use. This constructionrequires that the legs must be pushed into and withdrawn from thehousing after removing the cover. The tripods of this construction donot lend themselves to easy handling. An added disadvantage is that thecover is liable to be lost.

The present invention obviates the aforementioned disadvantages of theprior art tripods.

An object of the invention is to provide a tripod which permits toreceive its legs in the housing and pull out and spread the same withoutremoving the cover of the housing, whereby the tripod can be operatedreadily and the cover and the legs are never lost because they are notseparated from the housing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tripod which permits thelegs to be automatically extended from the housing upon release ofretaining means which retains the legs in the housing and which permitsto maintain the legs in a spread position upon rotation of a coverrotatably provided on the bottom opening of the housing.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a tripod in whichthe upper ends of the legs are each connected by a pin to a support discslidably received in the housing and axially directed engaging openingsequidistantly spaced apart from one another are formed at the lower endof said housing, the cover rotatably provided on the bottom opening ofthe housing being formed with engaging grooves complementary with saidengaging grooves in the housing, said support disc having legs connectedthereto by pins normally urged by spring means to move in a direction inwhich the legs extend outwardly of the housing, there being providedretaining means for retaining the legs in the housing which areautomatically extended out of the housing by the biasing force of saidspring means upon release of said retaining means and maintained in aspread position as the cover is rotated, the legs being inserted andheld in the housing by rotating the cover to its original position andpushing the legs into the housing against the biasing force of thespring means to be retained therein by said retaining means.

Additional objects as well as features and advantages of the inventionwill become evident from the description set forth hereinafter whenconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the tripod according to thisinvention with legs thereof being received in its housing;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bottom cover as seen in the direction ofits inner surface;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tripod of FIG. 1 showingits legs in a spread position;

FIG. 4 is a front view of another embodiment of the tripod according tothis invention with legs thereof being received in the housing;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of still anotherembodiment of the tripod according to this invention showing the mannerin which the tripod is used.

A first embodiment of the invention will now be explained with referenceto FIGS. 1 to 3. The numeral 1 designates a cylindrical housing openedat its upper and lower ends. Fonned on the outer circomferential surfaceof the lower end portion of said cylindrical housing 1 is a protrudingportion 2 which expands and spread downwardly in an arcuate fashion.

Formed on the inner circumferential surface of the top opening of saidcylindrical housing 1 is a threaded portion 3 which threadably receivestherein a threaded groove 5 formed on the outer circumferential surfaceof an upper disc 4. Fitted in the cylindrical housing 1 forfreeelevational motion is a movable support disc 6 which is normallyurged to move downwardly by a coil spring 7 mounted between said supportdisc 6 and said upper disc 4. Cutouts 8 arranged radially are formed inthree positions equidistantly spaced apart from one another on the outerperiphery of the support disc 6. Legs 9 are each received in one of saidcutouts 8 and pivotally connected at the upper end to the support discby a pin 10.

Engaging openings 11 are formed in three positions equidistantly spacedapart from one another in the protruding portion 2 at the lower end ofthe cylindrical housing 1 for permitting said legs 9 to extendtherethrough. The legs 9 are each formed at the outer edge of the lowerend portion with an integral projection 12 which is adapted to beengaged in one of said engaging openings 11 when the legs are receivedin the cylindrical housing 1. The lower end of each leg 9 has an earthcontacting member 14 connected to an inclined edge 13 at the lower endof each leg 9 so that the lower ends of the legs 9 can be disposed in ahorizontal position when in a spread position.

The movable support disc 6 is formed in its center with a center axialbore 15. A guide rod 17 having an upper end threadably received in athreaded opening 16 formed in the center of said upper disc 4 and alower end threadably received in an opening 19 formed in the center of alower disc 18 extends through said center axial bore 15 formed in thesupport disc 6. Said lower disc 18 is fitted in the bottom opening ofthe cylindrical housing 1 and formed at its lower outer edge with aflange 20 which engages the lower end edge of the cylindrical housing 1.The lower disc 18 is connected with the cylindrical housing 1 by athreaded member 21 received in the center opening 19 of the lower disc18 being threadably engaged in a threaded opening 22 formed at the lowerend of the guide rod 17. A bottom cover 23 is threadably fitted over athreaded portion on the outer circumferential surface of the flange 20of the lower disc 18. The bottom cover 23 is formed with engagingopenings 24 adapted to be indexed with the engaging openings 11 formedat the lower end of the cylindrical housing 1. The bottom cover 23 isformed with a center axial bore 25. A rod 27 having a ring 26 connectedto and suspended from its lower end extends through said center axialbore 25. Said rod 27 includes an engaging flange 27a which engages thelower peripheral edge of the center axial bore 25. The base of aretainer 28 is fitted for rotation over the inwardly directed projectionof the rod 27 with respect to the bottom cover 23. The base of saidretainer 28 is supported by a screw 29 threaded into the rod 27. A rod30 mounted on the retainer 28 extends through a slot 31 formed on oneside of the bottom cover 23. As shown in FIG. 2, a rod spring 34 issupported at its center spiral portion by a screw 29, one end of saidspring 34 being mounted with a projection 32 formed on the retainer 28and the other end being mounted with a projection 33 formed on the innerbottom surface of the bottom cover 23. Said rod spring 34 urges theretainer 28 in the clockwise direction so that an engaging portion 35projecting from the retainer 28 is engaged with any one of recesses 36formed at the lower ends of the legs 9 when the legs 9 are received inthe housing 1. The legs 9 are maintained in a retained position as saidengaging portion 35 of the retainer is engaged in the engaging recesses36 in the legs. Formed on the underside of the bottom cover 23 is anarcuate slot 37 which receives therein a rotation limiting rod 38threadably connected to the lower disc 18 so as to thereby prevent thedislodgement of the bottom cover 23 from the cylindrical housing 1 dueto excess rotation.

Known cameramounting means is connected to the upper end of thecylindrical housing 1 by threadably fitting a retaining cylindrical body39 over the threaded portion on the outer circumferential surface of theupper disc 4. Disposed in the retaining cylindrical The pressing board40 is slidably fitted in an adjusting cylindrical body 44 fitted in andsupported by the top opening of the retaining cylindrical body 39. Saidadjusting cylindrical body 44 receives therein a freely revolvingspherical body 46 having a threaded rod 45 for mounting a camerathereon. Said spherical body 46 is brought into engagement with theupper surface of the pressing board 40 and fixed in place as theadjusting screw 42 is tightened. The adjusting cylindrical body 44 isformed on one side with a cutout 47 shown in dashanddot lines in FIG. 3for positioning therein the threaded rod 45 of the spherical body whenthe rod is brought to a horizontal position.

The operation of the embodiment set forth hereinabove will now bedescribed. When it is desired to withdraw the legs 9 into thecylindrical housing 1, the engaging openings ll of the cylindricalhousing 1 are indexed with the engaging openings 24 of the bottom cover23 and the legs are brought into a position in which they are orientedaxially of the cylindrical housing 1. Upon pushing the legs 9 in thisposition into the cylindrical housing 1, the support disc 6 is movedupwardly against the biasing force of the spring 7 to the upper portionof the cylindrical housing 1. The upward movement of support disc 6compresses the spring 7, so that the legs 9 can be introduced into thecylindrical housing 1. At this time, a portion 300 for operating the rod30 is held by hand and moved horizontally in one direction so as torotate the retainer 28 against the biasing force of the rod spring 34,and the operating portion 300 is released when the legs 9 are introducedinto the cylindrical housing 1. Upon release of the operating portionf30a, the retainer 28 is returned to its original position by the biasingforce of the rod spring 34 so that the engaging'portion 35 of theretainer 28 can be brought into engagement in the engaging recess 36 ofthe leg 9. Thus, the legs 9 are maintained and locked in position in thecylindrical housing.

Upon turning the operating portion 301: in the reverse direction in theslot 31 against the biasing force of the rod spring 34 while the legsare locked in position in the cylindrical housing, the engaging portion35 is released from engagement in the engaging recess 36 in the leg 9.This permits the movable support disc 6 to be moved downwardly by thebiasing force of the spring 7, so that the legs 9 connected to thesupport disc 6 through pins extend outwardly through the engagingopenings il and 24 indexed with one another. If the legs 9 are spreadoutwardly at this time and moved to a position disposed above the upperedge of the bottom cover 23 where the legs 9 are out of engagement withthe engaging openings 24 and then the bottom cover 23 is rotated to aposition in which the engaging openings 24 thereof are out of index withthe engaging openings 11 of the cylindrical housing 1, then the legs 9in a spread position are each supported at the lower edge by the upperedge of the bottom cover 23 to be maintained in said position.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the tripodaccording to this invention permits to readily withdraw the legs intothe cylindrical housing and pull out the same. Once the legs 9 arereceived in the cylindrical housing 1, they can be locked in position inthe housing by compressing the spring 7 and bringing the engagingportion of the retainer 28 into engagement in the engaging recess 36 inthe leg 9. When it is desired to use the tripod, the legs 9 can becaused to extend outwardly through the openings 11 by the biasing forceof the spring 7 by merely rotating the retainer 28.

In the embodiment described hereinabove, the retainer 28 is supported bya screw 29 threaded into the rod 27 extending through the bottom cover23. Alternatively, the retainer 28 can be rotatably supported bycaulking the projecting end of the rod 27.

Also, the lower disc 18 is fitted in and connected to the bottom openingof the cylindrical housing 1 by having its flange engage the lower endedge of the cylindrical housing 1 in the embodiment described above.However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited tothis particular construction, and that the lower disc 18 can bethreadably connected to the lower end of the cylindrical housing I.

it should also be understood that the cameramounting means is notlimited to the construction shown and described above. The threaded rod45 for mounting a camera can be mounted directly on the upper end of thecylindrical housing 1.

In the first embodiment, the bottom cover 23 is formed with the engagingopenings 24 which engage protrusions 12 formed on the legs 9. in thesecond embodiment shown in FIG. 4, arcuatc edges 48 for guiding the legs9 from the lower ends of the engaging openings 24 to the upper edge of aflange 24a of the bottom cover 23 are formed so as to thereby facilitatespreading of the legs when they are pulled out of the housing.

In the third embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, the legs 9 are heldbetween inclined edges 49a formed on the top of the flange 24aandinclined edges 49 formed on the lower ends of the engaging openings 11of the cylindrical housing 1, thereby ensuring that the legs 9 ismaintained in a spread position.

An intermediate cylindrical body may be removably mounted between thecylindrical housing I and the retaining cylindrical body 39 so as toadjust the height of the tripod as desired.

v -While the present invention has been described with reference topreferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood that theinvention is not limited to the specific constructions shown anddescribed above, and that many modifications and changes may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

. l. A tripod comprising a cylindrical housing 1 including at its upperend a spherical body 46 on which a threaded rod 45 for mounting a camerathereon is projected, a movable support disc 6 slidably fitted in saidcylindrical housing 1 and urged downwardly toward the bottom opening ofthe cylindrical housing by spring means, at least three legs 9 connectedat their upper ends through pins to the marginal portion of said supportdisc in -positions equidistantly spaced apart from one another, engagingopenings 11 formed axially of the cylindrical housing in the lower endthereof in positions corresponding to the positions in which the basesof said legs are disposed for permitting the legs to extend therethroughwhen they are pulled out of or withdrawn into the cylindrical housing, alower disc 18 connected to the cylindrical housing 1 at the lower endthereof, a bottom cover 23 rotatably mounted on the lower disc 18,engaging openings 24 formed in said bottom cover 23 and adapted to beindexed with said engaging openings 11 in said cylindrical housing 1, aretainer 28 rotatably mounted on the bottom cover 23, engaging recess 36formed on the underside of the portion of at least one of the legs nearits forward end, an engaging portion 35 formed on the retainer 28adapted to be engaged in said engaging recess in the legs when thelatter are received in the cylindrical housing, a rod spring 34 forforcing the retainer 28 in a direction in which the engaging portion 35is engaged with the engaging recess 36, an operating portion 300 foroperating a rod 30 connected to said retainer 28 and extending outwardlythrough the side wall of the bottom cover 23, and a horizontallydirected slot 3! formed in the side wall of the bottom cover for saidoperating portion to extend therethrough outwardly of the cover, wherebythe legs 9 can be retained in their spreading position by supporting theupper and lower edges of the legs 9 projected out of the housing 1between the upper edge of the bottom cover 23 and the inner ends of theopenings ll formed on the housing 1.

2. A tripod as defined in claim 1 further comprising arcuate guide edges48 provided in said engaging openings 24 formed in the bottom cover 23for permitting the legs 9 to extend therethrough whereby the legs can beassisted in being brought to a spread position.

3. A tripod as defined in claim 1 further comprising inclined edges 49inclined in the lower direction formed at the upper end of the engagingopening 11 of the cylindrical housing and inclined edges 49:: inclinedin the lower direction formed at the upper end of the bottom cover 23.

3 t v I I

1. A tripod comprising a cylindrical housing 1 including at its upperend a spherical body 46 on which a threaded rod 45 for mounting a camerathereon is projected, a movable support disc 6 slidably fitted in saidcylindrical housing 1 and urged downwardly toward the bottom opening ofthe cylindrical housing by spring means, at least three legs 9 connectedat their upper ends through pins to the marginal portion of said supportdisc in positions equidistantly spaced apart from one another, engagingopenings 11 formed axially of the cylindrical housing in the lower endthereof in positions corresponding to the positions in which the basesof said legs are disposed for permitting the legs to extend therethroughwhen they are pulled out of or withdrawn into the cylindrical housing, alower disc 18 connected to the cylindrical housing 1 at the lower endthereof, a bottom cover 23 rotatably mounted on the lower disc 18,engaging openings 24 formed in said bottom cover 23 and adapted to beindexed with said engaging openings 11 in said cylindrical housing 1, aretainer 28 rotatably mounted on the bottom cover 23, engaging recess 36formed on the underside of the portion of at least one of the legs nearits forward end, an engaging portion 35 formed on the retainer 28adapted to be engaged in said engaging recess in the legs when thelatter are received in the cylindrical housing, a rod spring 34 forforcing the retainer 28 in a direction in which the engaging portion 35is engaged with the engaging recess 36, an operating portion 30a foroperating a rod 30 connected to said retainer 28 and extending outwardlythrough the side wall of the bottom cover 23, and a horizontallydirected slot 31 formed in the side wall of the bottom cover for saidoperating portion to extend therethrough outwardly of the cover, wherebythe legs 9 can be retained in their spreading position by supporting theupper and lower edges of the legs 9 projected out of the housing 1between the upper edge of the bottom cover 23 and the inner ends of theopenings 11 formed on the housing
 1. 2. A tripod as defined in claim 1further comprising arcuate guide edges 48 provided in said engagingopenings 24 formed in the bottom cover 23 for permitting the legs 9 toextend therethrough whereby the legs can be assisted in being brought toa spread position.
 3. A tripod as defined in claim 1 further comprisinginclined edges 49 inclined in the lower direction formed at the upperend of the engaging opening 11 of the cylindrical housing and inclinededges 49a inclined in the lower direction formed at the upper end of thebottom cover 23.